Jury deliberating fate of man accused in fatal shooting of 6-year-old girl in Mission

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EDINBURG — Jurors on Wednesday afternoon began deliberating whether a man accused of participating in a drive-by shooting that killed a 6-year-old girl in Mission is guilty or innocent.

They began their deliberations at approximately 3 p.m. in the trial of William Garcia, who is charged with capital murder of a child under 10 years old and murder.

Garcia has been on trial since Dec. 3 over the Feb. 23, 2021 shooting death of Yvonne Adele Medeles, who died instantly at a residence in the 2400 block of Valencia Avenue after being shot in the head.

During closings, prosecutors said Garcia and 46-year-old Alton resident Marco Antonio Reyes Chairez shot at the residence 39 times with a rifle and handgun after Chairez got into an argument with a 14-year-old boy earlier in the day.

On Tuesday, Juan Roman Garcia Olaguez, who has pleaded guilty to murder and testified against Garcia, said Garcia shot at the home with either an AK-47 or AR-15 from inside Chairez’s Ford Echo.

That testimony, however, conflicts with that of Medeles’ former stepfather, Esteban Lopez, who said Chairez filed the gun.

However, Garcia’s attorney Oscar Vega said during closing arguments that Garcia did shoot, but that it was a case of self defense.

Vega also suggested that Lopez accidentally shot at the house while running away from the confrontation and that bullet holes within the home were from a prior shooting there. Vega insinuated that a bullet fired by Lopez running away or one that he fired and ricocheted could have caused Medeles’ death.

He said that the men brought guns to the house “just in case” and told jurors that Lopez and Medeles’ uncle — Oziel Balderas — lied on the stand.

Balderas, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, gave Chairez the middle finger during an argument prior to the shooting.

Vega also said there are no fingerprints or DNA tying Garcia to the scene.

“They didn’t go there with the intent to shoot anyone,” Vega said.

The final witness in the case, a former District Attorney’s Office employee, testified Wednesday morning that he dumped Garcia’s phone and found one message where Garcia said “I need to disappear.”

The phone dump also revealed a recording of a newscast about the shooting, a photo of Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra and mugshots of Chairez and 47-year-old Edinburg resident Daniel Guzman Flores.

Chairez previously pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 50-year prison sentence. Guzman, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to charges of capital murder of a person under 10 years old and murder. He remains jailed on a total of $575,000 in bonds.

Prosecutor Hope Palacios told jurors during closings that Garcia knew exactly what he was doing when he went to the house with weapons.

“He knows what he’s doing could lead to the death of Esteban or Oziel,” Palacios said. “Testimony from Olaguez shows that Garcia was holding a type of rifle.”

Palacios told jurors they can believe that either Garcia’s bullet killed the child or that he assisted in her death. Either way, under the rule of law parties which is attached to a capital murder charge, Garcia would be responsible even if he didn’t cause the child’s death because he participated.

“Was this man assisting them? Yes,” Palacios said.

The final day of testimony was also punctuated by outbursts from Medeles’ grandfather, who was ultimately removed from the courtroom.

Her mother, Julianna Balderas, also burst into tears when prosecutors finished closing by showing jurors crime scene photos of her child’s lifeless body.

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